Shadows (Book Two of the Royals Trilogy)

Chapter Seventeen

SKYLAR

I woke up with a pounding headache and I sat up slowly. I opened my eyes and looked at my surroundings to see where I was. I hadn’t remembered getting back to the cabin, the last thing I remembered was telling Blair I knew where the Royale Brothers were and that was it.

I tried to search for any sign of Blair, but she wasn’t in the cabin with me. I took a shower and got dressed before heading out of the cabin and towards the cafeteria, maybe she was there having breakfast with Melissa, considering they had begun to get along. The cafeteria was crowded, and I couldn’t see Blair anywhere. Melissa on the other hand, was having breakfast with Gideon. I could see them laughing and I finally realized why Blair insisted that Mark and I were getting close, because just as Gideon was looking at Melissa, was the same way Mark looked at me.

I froze and didn’t know what to do, I didn’t want to interrupt them, but I also needed to fill Melissa in on how relationships were handled in camp. I grabbed a plate and filled it before joining Gideon and Melissa. They looked surprised to see me alone, but they didn’t object when I sat down. “Hey, Sky, where is Blair?” asked her brother with a confused expression on his face.

I shrugged and shook my head, “I don’t know, when I woke up, she wasn’t there and so I came here thinking she was probably eating before we left.” Gideon tensed and nodded, I forgot Blair and I hadn’t told him we were leaving today.

“You’re leaving today?” he asked, his tone serious. I nodded and he sighed, “good luck Sky, and take care, watch over Blair, I can see something is bothering her, but I don’t know what, she won’t tell me.” I stayed silent, I couldn’t tell Gideon about Hunter Liam, it was not my place to do so and if Blair hadn’t told him, there had to be a reason why.

“There you are, I have been looking all over for you,” I heard Blair say in frustration behind me. I chuckled and looked at my friend that was now sitting in front of me, next to her brother.

“I could say the same thing to you,” I said, and she glared at me.

“Well I was just training, I didn’t think you were going to wake up so soon. When I went back to the cabin you weren’t there, so I figured you were with Melissa,” Blair said as she took a piece of bacon from my plate. “Gosh, I’m starving, I’ll get something to eat.”

Melissa had been quiet since I sat down, and I turned to look at her. “Are you alright Melissa?”

My former friend nodded hesitantly and then sighed, “I was just thinking about my parents, how did you get over what happened?”

I froze and shook my head, “I just learnt to move on, the pain doesn’t get easier, you just realize that you have your whole life to live and you cannot put it on hold just to feel bad. I still miss them, and I still think about them, but I know that there are things I’ve got to do and there are goals I have established, and I just want to see them fulfilled.” Melissa nodded and shook her head.

“I just feel so angry right now, more so considering the witch who did this is rotting in a cell under us right now, but I wish I could make her feel my pain,” Melissa said sadly and I placed a hand on her shoulder while Gideon took her hand in his and gave her an encouraging smile.

“We are all here for you, Melissa. Remember that revenge is not the answer,” he spoke softly, and it was enough to make Melissa more relaxed. We stayed like that for a moment until Blair set her plate on the table, loudly.

“What’s going on? What did I miss?” she asked as she looked at us weirdly. Gideon and I pulled back from Melissa and shook our heads.

“It’s nothing, we were just talking about the mission,” Gideon responded but Blair didn’t look convinced.

Nonetheless, she didn’t say anything more and instead she got to eating. While we ate, we all talked about different subjects or answered Melissa’s doubts regarding certain creatures or Hunter traditions. “-and that is why you stink after a mermaid touches you,” Blair answered as she looked at me with a smile. I knew why she was smiling, she remembered my first encounter with a mermaid all those months ago.

I was about to say something when the gadget tied to my wrist started beeping. I looked at it and saw it was an incoming message. It was from the lab and it only said; they’re ready. Blair was looking at me with a raised eyebrow, probably guessing what the message said. I nodded and both of us quickly got up. “We need to go to the lab,” Blair said, taking both of our plates to the kitchen to get washed.

I nodded, “but we won’t leave without saying goodbye, I’ll send Gideon a message when we are ready to leave.” Gideon nodded but Melissa tensed.

“I might not be able to see you then, I have classes with Huntress Joan,” she said uncomfortably, and I rested my hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Blair and I will get back by the time you graduate,” I tried to assure her, and she smiled slightly. We hugged awkwardly for a moment before we pulled back. “Good luck, Melissa. Remember, on your ceremony pick a really good name,” I teased, and she nodded.

“I’ll see you later,” Gideon said, and I nodded and joined Blair who was waiting for me at the exit.

“You could have said goodbye to your brother,” I said softly, and she sighed.

“I will, but once we leave, and I plan on telling him everything, just so he can be cautious around Elda,” Blair said anxiously. I nodded and just then we reached the lab.

Mark was waiting for us in the same room he had shown us the blueprints almost a week before. When he saw us, I could see his eyes gleam and I blushed. “You sent us a message?” I asked and he nodded with a smile.

“Yes, the weapons you requested are ready and we have tried them, and they are stable and fully functional,” he said as he handed Blair and I a gun. It looked like something out of a science fiction, very futuristic.

It was light and there was a green glow coming out of the power source. “I like it,” Blair said immediately as she tried it out on a target in front of us. The force of the blow made us tumble back a bit. “Wow, that’s strong,” she said in surprise and then put the gun down.

I smiled and looked at Mark, “thank you for doing this.”

He nodded, “no problem. Anything to keep you safe,” he said gently, and a shiver ran down my spine and not because it was cold in the room. “Are you leaving today?” he asked and there was something in his voice that I couldn’t place.

I nodded and he sighed, “But we plan to leave in the afternoon, we need to go over some things first.”

Blair stepped by my side and nodded, “yes, we still need to discuss what happened last night.” I froze and gave her a look that said I didn’t want to worry Mark, but he didn’t look confused. “He already knows, Sky, who did you think helped me take you to our cabin?”

I turned to look at Mark, he was blushing, “yes, I just saw a fire late at night and decided to see if it were Trainees playing pranks in the forest but instead, I found Blair there, trying to wake you up.”

“Yeah well, I don’t know what happened last night, I don’t remember much after I told Blair I knew where we should go to continue the mission,” I explained, and he studied me.

“Are you sure you’re ready to go? Maybe you should rest for a couple more days,” he suggested worriedly, but I shook my head.

“We really need to go Mark, don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine,” I said, and it wasn’t open to negotiation.

Mark sighed and nodded, “since I highly doubt that you’ll change your mind. But remember that I’m just a message away if you need help. Although I would suggest you send me a message to me before the camp leader because the last time they opened a debate on whether to let you die or not.”

I tensed but Blair didn’t look surprise to hear that, “It’s the traditional way, Mark, everything is up to debate here.” He nodded bust still looked unsatisfied with the answers and I agreed, traditions sometimes needed to change.

“It was nice seeing you again, Mark, thank you for your help,” I said nicely and lightly touched his arm. He tensed at first, considering it was the first physical contact we had ever had.

“Anytime, Sky,” he whispered, and I smiled. I turned to Blair who looked eager to leave and nodded. The two of us walked out of the building and towards our cabin to pack the things we were going to take.

“We still need to talk about what happened last night, why did you say that you knew where they are?” she asked on the way to our cabin.

I sighed and shook my head, “I can’t explain it, I just felt this thing inside me, snap. One second, I was looking at the map and in the next I was on a huge house on the edge of a cliff. When you started calling me it was like my body decided to respond and was thrown back here but I saw the whole trip, they’re not close from here. In fact, they’re in another continent.” When I finished talking, Blair’s eyes widened.

“I think that was the bond, Sky,” she said softly, and I sighed, I had guessed as much.

“Well, if it is, I didn’t open it, and that means… what exactly?” I asked in confusion and Blair shook her head, unable to respond because she didn’t know much about soulmates.

“I guess we’ll figure it out, but I do think it’s best to go find my father first and then the Royale Brothers,” she said cautiously, and I shook my head. There was something telling me I needed to get to the Royale Brothers as soon as I could, it felt important.

“I can’t explain it but we need to go find the Royale Brothers first, I promise that we will go meet your father as soon as we find the brothers,” I said trying to reassure my friend and even though she raised an eyebrow in confusion, she nodded and let me have it my way.

We packed a few of our belongings in some bags and headed out of the cabin and towards the exit. I had messaged Gideon and told him about our departure, and he was already there to bid us goodbye. I had told Mark, but he had said it would be too hard for him to see us off, so he stayed behind instead. To my surprise there were other two, younger figures standing side-by-side with Gideon, Adeen and Zeke.

I smiled instantly at the sight of the child I had formerly taken care of. “Sky!” Adeen yelled in excitement and I quickened my pace, Blair at my heels. When I reached the Trainee, I hugged her tightly and laughed, it had been a long time since the last time I saw her. “I’m sorry for not coming to see you before, we have been very busy with all our Trainee duties. We heard you caught a very powerful witch,” Adeen said quickly and I smiled, still the same girl I remembered, only taller.

“It is true, we brought back a very evil witch but now it is time for us to continue our mission and next time you see us, we’ll be bringing three vampires with us,” I said confidently, and she smiled in admiration. I straightened and let Blair greet Adeen while I went to say hi to Zeke. Unlike Adeen, he looked tense and uncomfortable, as if he had been forced to be there. He looked well, stronger even but he was still the same serious kid.

“Sky, it’s getting dark out, I think we should leave,” Blair said, and I nodded. We hugged Gideon for one last time, and he told us to keep him informed about any sign of danger or any bumps along the way. We promised to do what he said and before we could take a step out of the camp, he handed us two bags, each containing a large lunch for us. I smiled at Gideon, grateful, with all the packing and running we hadn’t managed to eat lunch and it warmed my heart to see just how much Gideon cared for us. He was just like our older brother.

“Stay safe, and good luck,” was the last thing Gideon said before he let us through the gates and closed them after us. Through the rearview mirror I could see three figures standing there, waving goodbye.